


If we could only turn back time

by playthetyrants



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cuddling, Gen, Niall and Liam are mentioned as well, Preston makes a brief appearance, So is Zayn oops, They blush a lot, This is basically pure fluff, but this is set present day, cute little kisses, they talk about X Factor, tiny bit of crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4781708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/playthetyrants/pseuds/playthetyrants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Louis find an old blanket with their faces on it from their Up All Night days, and suddenly end up reminiscing about their days on The X Factor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If we could only turn back time

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me out of nowhere one day and I just had to write it down. This is my first work on this site, so we'll see how it goes down. Enjoy!  
> NOTICE: I like changing the POV a lot, so if there's a space or asterisks in between paragraphs, a shift has happened. Don't want to confuse people! :)

You’d think after all this time on tour, all this time traveling and all this time he spent on planes, Louis might be able to remember his phone charger. Just once.

The music playing in his headphones was abruptly cut off mid song and his green eyes snapped open with a start, a sigh escaping his lips.Right at the fucking good part, too. He yanked his headphones from his ears in annoyance, trying to remember the last time he had even seen his charger in the first place. He sat for a moment, wrapping the white cord of his headphones around his huge iPhone and stopped suddenly.

“Niall…” he groaned, his hands falling back into his lap. He briefly recalled Niall asking to borrow his last night at the hotel in New York and not asking for it back this morning. It really was his fault that his phone was now dead, but why not blame it on Niall for taking it in the first place?

He dropped his phone, now wrapped up in his headphones, into his small black Adidas bag and peered out the window of the jet. The dim lights of Houston were appearing in the distance, a glittering galaxy that looked like star dust sprinkled on the dark ground below him. He leaned back again and shifted around in his seat, blinking his eyes to adjust to the darkness.He was getting restless and could feel his legs falling asleep quickly. He scratched the back of his head, yawning, when a sudden movement in front of him caught his gaze, and the tense grip of his free hand holding onto the seat railing suddenly loosened. A soft murmur broke the silence around him, and Louis felt his entire body lose all tension in an instant, like a switch being turned off.

Harry. Harry, Harry...Harry.

Sometimes it genuinely scared Louis how much he loved this man. It scared him how he had every single characteristic and facet of him memorized, every freckle on his cheeks and the rough patches of his skin, the curve of his eyelashes and the subtle shape of his dark pink lips. Another soft sound escaped from from Harry lip’s and, Jesus, Louis’ cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so damn big. Everything about Harry made Louis feel like that, like nothing could hurt them when they were together, no matter what was going on around them.

Obviously, though, every couple had their tough spots, and being on this tour was testing them.

The fourth tour in four years, fourth album, non stop since the beginning. Louis rubbed one of his eyes, suddenly tired from this change of thought. He felt like he practically lived on this jet, and despite how nice it was, he’d much rather have a stable home that preferably stayed on the ground. The constant switching of cities, states and hotels was wearing him out mentally, and it just took away a sense of stability he had felt before in his life. Keeping his gaze fixed on Harry, he quietly and slowly moved his feet from off the seat in front of him, careful not to touch Harry’s thigh with his foot. He adjusted his socks quickly with one hand and slid his white Vans over towards him, sliding them on his feet. He ran a finger over a spot from a shower of blue Powerade he had received from Liam just hours earlier and chuckled a little.

The sudden reminder of the show they had in a couple days, however, made Louis even more tired, and he placed his elbows on his knees, rubbing his face with his hands for a temporary moment of escape.

“Louis?”

He felt his face instantly heat up beneath his fingers, that stupid grin appearing on his face without a second thought. His head shot up and he immediately sat up, his back straightening and his hands falling into his lap. Harry blinked slowly at Louis, his face etched with traces of concern.

“Are you alright?” His voice was even deeper than usual, thick with sleep, making Louis’ heart flutter.

“Does your head hurt?” Harry sat up surprisingly quickly for his groggy state, his long legs stretching out and drawing back again, propping himself up in the seat. Louis faintly heard the bones in his back and neck pop, as they always did after he fell asleep in the jet.

“I have some medicine if you need it…” The words started tumbling out faster and faster in his thick accent as he became more concerned and Louis was absolutely entranced by it. It amazed him every single day how selfless Harry was, in everything he did. Harry’s hands were suddenly in his black Yves Saint Laurent bag, digging around for a pill bottle. Louis opened his mouth to interrupt and tell him he was feeling just fine, when Harry suddenly tossed Louis’ phone charger onto the table between them, looking up at him.

“You forgot to get it from Niall yesterday,” he stated simply, then looked back down in the bag again. Louis blinked, his mouth still open mid word, staring down at the little red “LT” for Louis Tomlinson written in Sharpie on the plug.

Where in the world would he be without this man?

* * *

The next hour passed in a blur, and Harry barely remembered getting off the jet at all. His black bag was slung over his shoulder, his brightly patterned floral shift fluttering in the soft Texas breeze, and he quickly shook out his hair as he was pulled out of the plane and shoved into a black Escalade almost immediately, trying to keep his face from being seen by the small crowd of girls that had gathered around the gates. His heart ached a bit as he fought to keep his hand restrained from waving, as he always had to when he and Louis flew together. There was to be absolutely no attention drawn to him, and it sounded like they had succeeded when he heard no response from the girls. The door slammed loudly behind him and he felt the car speed off, his back hitting the seat with a jolt. He glanced out the window beside him, watching the crowd grow smaller and smaller behind him before turning back towards the front. The ride from the airport to their usual Houston hotel wasn’t far, maybe 20 minutes or so, and he didn’t want to risk dozing off in the car like he had on the jet. He always felt worse after small naps like that and it made it hard to go to bed at the hotels. The last show in New York had been amazing, one of the best on tour, but with those shows came an insane amount of exhaustion, and Harry was NOT going to let Texas see him sleepy. He pulled his bag up onto the seat beside him and pulled out his phone, sliding his finger across the screen to unlock it. He had a couple messages, one from Liam informing him that he and Niall had arrived a few minutes before them and had luckily taken a large amount of the crowd with them by making himself seen. Harry smiled faintly, thanking the gods above for Liam Payne. He was always so careful with these types of things, and knew he and Niall were adamant on having Harry and Louis fly together at least a couple times during tour. After the past few shows, they had insisted they fly down here together, to “spend time with one another.” In Harry’s mind, he figured they’d probably noticed the way Harry and Louis hadn’t had the opportunity to even breathe with how busy they’d been, and figured this 2 hour flight to Houston would do them well. He typed a thank you quick response and looked back at his messages again, scrolling past the usual daily one from his mum (Love and miss you, my love!) and one from Gemma, with a selfie of them attached to her sweet goodbye message. Harry’s heart swelled at remembering the amazing lunch he had had the day before with his sister and he quickly saved the photo to his phone, making a mental note to ask if he could post it on his Instagram the next day. Of course, that might not be possible at all considering the fact that Louis had been at the very same place with Lottie, and he couldn’t risk the fact that people might’ve seen them together.

  
“5 minutes, Mr. Styles,” Harry’s head shot up at the sound of his driver’s voice, a hint of Texas twang hidden in it. He nodded quickly and smiled. “Thank you,” he murmured in reply, hitting his finger against the lock button on the side of the phone. 5 minutes before he could wrap himself in a blanket and pass out for a few hours, lovely. He rubbed his eyes for a moment before realizing he had no idea what time it was. He pressed his home button to check and felt his heart jump into his throat.

Louis’ smiling face greeted him from the dim screen, his eyes squinted and creating those crinkles next to them that Harry absolutely adored. His hair was messy and brushed off towards to the side, a bottle of water clutched in one of his hands and the other one resting on Harry’s hip, not seen in the picture but Harry remembered all the same. He grinned, suddenly feeling the ghost of Louis’ small hand against his side, his cheeks flushing with heat out of nowhere. Harry’s own face was smiling in the photo, actually mid laugh because Louis had thought it would be funny to tickle him right before Harry had taken the picture. Harry laughed softly, remembering how Louis had giggled and taken off towards the stage again right after it was taken, taking a quick drink of his water as he jogged and grabbing his microphone back from Liam when he arrived. Harry sat quietly, unable to stop himself from running his fingertip along Louis’ face on the screen, not sure of why he was even doing it in the first place. Honestly, most of the things he did around Louis were almost instinctive and he just...did them. Obviously, that was a problem that wouldn’t be such a big deal if he was allowed to touch his boyfriend in public...and if he wasn’t a member of the biggest boy band in the world. He frowned a bit, looking at Louis’ hand and suddenly trying to remember when the last time he had actually held his hand was...how sad. But he was suddenly torn from his thoughts as the car came to a stop. They had pulled into the parking garage and Harry hadn’t even noticed the shrieking of girls at the front entrance. Before he knew it, the car door was opening for him and he scrambled to grab his bag, shoving his phone in his pocket before climbing out. His bodyguard was already waiting, ready to take him in. Thankfully, no girls had shown up in the back yet, and he thanked the driver, shaking her hand before taking off towards the door. He blinked, suddenly realizing how dark it was outside and remembered what he had forgotten to check. He turned towards his guard as they stepped into the elevator.

“Can you tell me what time it is?”

* * *

Louis ran his fingers through his hair, noting to himself how greasy his hair felt and silently cursing himself for washing his hair the night before. He couldn’t help it, he was a sucker for a nice, long, hot shower. He couldn’t resist washing his hair either, as it felt amazing to massage his scalp and unwind before a big show. He saw himself in the reflection of the glass ceiling in the elevator as he stretched his neck, yawning and watching his eyes crinkle up. His baggy Adidas jumper was practically swallowing him whole. Preston leaned against the railing beside him, scrolling through something on his phone, looking exhausted. Louis shifted the strap of his bag off his shoulder, letting it fall to the ground for a moment of relief. He rubbed at the spot, smirking at him.

“You look absolutely knackered,” he commented, and watched as he rolled his eyes, looking up from his phone and smiling tiredly at Louis. “Do I really? I had no idea.” he snapped back playfully, sliding his phone in his pocket. Louis smiled, wiggling his eyebrows. “It’s okay, I know older people can’t handle the tour life at times.” Preston laughed out loud, shaking his head as the elevator door opened.

“I wouldn’t be talking, you look like you haven’t slept in a month!” He walked out, pulling a couple of hotel room keys from his jacket as Louis quickly grabbed his bag and followed him.

“I probably haven’t to be quite honest.” It was kind of disturbing how true this was.

The plush red carpet felt slightly bouncy to Louis’ feet as he gazed around at the various paintings scattered around the hall. He snorted loudly at one particular picture of a cow, looking so out of place among the regal outfitting of the hotel. They stopped in front of the last room in the hall, Preston turning and handing the card to Louis.

“Harry already has one, because I know you’ll lose this one before tomorrow morning.” Louis narrowed his eyes, ready to make a comeback but now it was Preston’s turn to wiggle his eyebrows. “He’s already in there. Try and get some actual sleep, for God’s sake? I don’t want to hear you two again.” Louis felt his cheeks suddenly turn hot and he blinked, listening and watching as his bodyguard walked down the opposite side of the hall, cackling to himself. Louis rolled his eyes, smiling faintly and turning towards the door, pulling the key card out of its sleeve and opening the door, pushing it open quietly.

He heard the sound of the water faucet on in the bathroom across the large room, Harry’s black bag sitting on the very end of one of the two king size beds, its contents spread across the comforter. Louis shut the door behind him, walking over and setting his bag beside it, unzipping it and grabbing his phone charger and phone. He smirked at how Harry’s stuff sprawled almost neatly across the comforter, without him even trying. Yawning, he slid off his Vans and walked over to the other bed, finding an outlet by the bedside table and plugging it in. The faucet suddenly shut off, Harry spitting water into the sink as Louis set his phone down. He watched the door open, the light from the bathroom spilling into their bedroom, across the cream colored carpet and felt his heart beat rapidly as Harry’s shadow appeared, coming closer towards him. Louis grinned, Harry’s curly head of hair appearing from behind the door, and laughed as Harry’s eyes lit up in response.

“Louis! I didn’t even hear you come in…” His voice was still deeper than usual, bless his soul, and Louis felt his cheeks warm up even more.

“I kinda snuck in...I’m pretty good at doing that sometimes,” He smiled as Harry giggled at him, then felt his heart skip a beat as Harry shut the door, realizing he was shirtless and already in pajama pants. Harry noticed his reaction and blinked shyly, his lashes fluttering and dammit, Louis had never seen someone so cute in his life.

“That you are…” Harry commented, walking over and sitting down beside Louis on the bed. Louis could hear his heart pounding in his ears, as it always did when Harry was with him. Harry smirked at him, his green eyes scanning his face slowly. “A little TOO good, if you ask me.”

Louis blinked stupidly at him, his mouth opening slightly as his eyes were suddenly glued to Harry’s lips, as if what he were saying were the most important thing on this earth. Truthfully, in Louis’ eyes, everything Harry said was remarkable and deserved to be goggled at. Harry’s smirk turned into a dorky grin and he couldn’t help but giggle at him, shaking his head.

“Louisssss…” he drawled, reaching up and touching the tip of Louis’ nose with his finger. Before Louis could playfully swat his hand away, Harry had leaned in and pressed his lips against Louis’, giving him the softest kiss he had had felt in weeks. Louis’ head was suddenly spinning, unable to process what was happening for a few seconds. This level of...not even intimacy, but love? He had nearly forgotten what it felt like with their busy schedules. He felt Harry’s lips tense up, moving to draw away but Louis snapped back to reality long enough to slide his arm around Harry’s neck and pull him immediately back, pressing his lips back against his and kissing him back just as softly, pulling his lips away with a gentle smack after a few seconds. Harry’s eyes were wide, his cheeks pink and lips still slightly open. Louis winked playfully and Harry’s face lit up happily, a grin spreading across his face.

“We haven’t kissed like that in...a while.” Louis nodded in response, scratching his cheek. Harry rubbed his own neck, still smiling happily. “S’like...I mean, we like..make out backstage and stuff sometimes, but…” Louis smiled and couldn’t believe how embarrassed he still sounded when they talked about “making out” or whatever he called it, but it made him positively glow with happiness. Harry had always been like that.  
“...we haven’t kissed so softly in such a long time…” Louis suddenly blinked, startled at the sudden shift in Harry’s voice. Did he sound upset, or was Louis just too tired? He scanned Harry’s face quickly and, sure enough, his eyes had that trace of sadness in them that only Louis could notice.

“Harry…” He turned his whole body to face him, his hands immediately reaching over and sliding to grab his hands. Harry was silent, his gaze still fixed on Louis, frowning slightly. Louis felt his chest clench up with concern and he dropped their hands, reaching up to clasp his face gently. He watched Harry’s eyes suddenly droop shut, his head falling to rest against Louis’ palm. He looked so worn out, so tired. The shadows under his eyes were suddenly much more prominent to him. Louis’ thumb brushed softly against his cheek, then raised himself up to plant a soft kiss against Harry’s forehead, closing his own eyes for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Haz...from now on, I’m gonna promise you a kiss like that every single day…” For a moment, Louis was unsure if he had even heard what he had said, but suddenly Harry’s long arms were around his waist, pulling him to nearly sit in his lap. Louis smiled, Harry moving his head to bury itself into Louis’ neck, feeling his lips press against his lower neck and collarbone in response.

“Sounds good…” Harry muttered into his skin, keeping his tight grip on Louis for a moment more before letting him go and looking back up. Louis was relieved to see the traces of sadness gone from his eyes, and before he knew it Harry was up again, walking to Louis’ bag on the other bed.

“It’s really late, you need to put something on to sleep in…” Louis caught a pair of black Adidas sweatpants that Harry tossed in his direction, yawning in response.

“Yeah, you’re right...:” He got up and walked past him towards the bathroom, catching again as Harry tossed his toothbrush towards him as well. “Be right back.”

The door shut behind Louis and Harry immediately flopped onto their bed, unable to keep his grin from appearing. His hands flew up to his lips, touching them gently as if trying to mimic the soft touch he had felt from Louis’ kiss. At this rate, Harry’s heart was bound to beat out of his rib cage any minute now. His hand fell to rest against his chest, feeling the rapid motion against it and that made him grin even wider. It was true, Louis hadn’t kissed him like that in a long time. It wasn’t his fault, really, they were both just so busy. This particular tour had taken a toll on all four of them, and the need for sleep was at an all time high. Rarely did Harry and Louis ever even attempt to do anything but sleep at their hotels nowadays, and it really sucked. Harry kept quiet, not noticing the faucet stop running in the bathroom. Louis’ voice suddenly rang out, loud and clear, dragging Harry from his thoughts.

“You’ve got to be joking me…” Harry blinked, startled, and sat up. His voice wasn’t angry or upset but...amused?

“Everything alright, Lou?” he called out, trying to hide the note of concern that had crept into his voice. Louis suddenly came out from behind the door, dressed in nothing but his pants and carrying a large multi colored fleece blanket that Harry had never seen in his life. He raised his eyebrows, confused. “Where did you find…?” He stopped mid sentence, his mouth falling open as Louis quickly unfolded and held the blanket out in front of him. Harry couldn’t hold back the loud cackle that escaped his lips, quickly covering his mouth as Louis giggled at him. “Are you serious? Where did you find that?”

Louis was holding none other than a beautifully made, limited edition One Direction blanket, complete with a huge photo of the band from, oh 2011, Harry thought. Prime Up All Night tour era, he figured, his eyes scanning across the weirdly disproportionate faces of his band mates. They all smiled back awkwardly at him, Harry still laughing in disbelief.

“It was folded up in one of the cabinets, I saw something poking out from the corner of one and I just HAD to open it,” Louis walked over towards him, kicking the door shut behind him and carefully laying the blanket on the bed, Harry quickly jumping out of the way to let him. He kept giggling, watching as Louis tugged at the corners to try and get as many wrinkles out as he could.

“That’s….weird,” he stated, shaking his head. “Why would it be in the bathroom?” Louis shrugged, turning to look at Harry.

“Why did we ever agree to dress like that?” Harry giggled loudly, looking down at the blanket and running his hand against Louis’ picture.

“WE didn’t agree to anything...but you know I always liked the stripes on you. It was downright adorable, along with the suspenders…” Harry grinned as he watched Louis’ cheeks flare up, even visible in the dim light from the lamps on the bedside tables. Louis leaned his knees against the bed, looking carefully across the blanket and reached out his own hand to touch Harry’s photo.

“That damn blazer you wore…” He shook his head, still smiling. “I have to admit, I hated it at first.” Harry gasped dramatically, lifting his hand and covering his mouth in mock disbelief. Louis’ smile widened, chuckling softly to himself. “I said at first! It grew on me surprisingly quickly, but...it might have just been the fact that I was already so in love with you I could care less what you wore.”

Oh, Christ. Could Louis hear how loud his heart suddenly started pounding? Harry felt it rapidly begin to bump against his chest again, momentarily losing his breath as his head shot up to meet his gaze. Louis sat there quietly, a simple smile resting upon his lips, but Harry could tell with that cheeky look in his eyes he knew exactly what he was doing to him. The sudden heat to his cheeks brought him back momentarily, and Harry rubbed absentmindedly at his chest, looking back down at the blanket.

“That feels like it was so long ago…” he murmured, not meaning for his voice to sound sad but apparently it came out like that anyway.

 Louis knew Harry inside and out, from the tip of his toes to the last hair on his curly head. The sudden change in body language was almost too easy for him to notice as he watched him sit down carefully beside the blanket, his eyes still glued to it. The muscles in his arms rippled slightly as he folded them into his lap, the light from the lamps shining delicately on his tanned skin. Louis shuffled uncomfortably, his knees knocking against each other as he tried to figure out what to say. It was only after he followed Harry’s gaze to the blanket that he realized what was going on. His chest suddenly began to ache, and he vaguely wondered if people could hear actual heart break.

“I miss him too, Haz.” Louis was shocked to realize his hand had traveled instinctively to his Bus1 tattoo and Harry had noticed as well, raising his eyebrows slightly in response. Louis blinked, dropping his hand and moving to sit down on Harry’s other side, suddenly at a loss for words. Harry looked back down, his long fingers drumming slowly against his own thigh, his face looking thoughtful. “Tour really isn’t the same without him.” Harry nodded in response, squinting his eyes slightly at the blanket.

“That varsity jacket on him was a disaster from the start…” Louis couldn’t stop the giggle that suddenly escaped his mouth, Harry’s face lighting up out of the corner of his eye. He nodded in agreement. Harry was always good about changing the subject.

“Zayn could barely walk without tripping over his own feet, let alone play a sport…” Harry’s loud cackle sent Louis’ heart racing again, and he perked up a bit. “And let’s not even discuss the ungodly amounts of plaid Liam was forced to wear…” He grinned as Harry swatted his arm playfully, dramatically swerving out of his way to try and escape it. “He looks like all those damn cowboys I saw staring at me from the pictures in the hallway!”

“The plaid was fine! It was those damn polo shirts that Niall wore that made me want to pull my hair out! I swear, they wanted him to become a boring golfer from the start.” Their loud laughter was suddenly filling the room, probably able to be heard down the hallway and quite possibly the floor below them. Louis immediately reached over and covered Harry’s mouth with his palm, grinning as Harry raised his eyebrows at him. Louis looked behind them at his phone sitting on his desk, waiting to see if he received an angry text from Liam in all caps like he usually did. Harry sat quietly, keeping silent beneath Louis’ hand and watched him amusedly. As soon as Louis began to drop his hand, convinced they were safe for now, Harry had his arm wrapped around his waist and Louis gasped loudly as he was yanked down on top of the blanket, suddenly enveloped in Harry’s tight but loving grip. Harry’s legs wrapped around his own, ultimately trapping him in some sort of giraffe-limb cage. Louis narrowed his eyes playfully, watching as Harry’s face beamed cheekily back at him. “You’re all mine now.”

The statement was simple as ever, yet Louis felt a sudden rush of heat race across his entire body. He swallowed thickly, suddenly fully aware of Harry’s bare skin pressed up against his. His skin prickled with goosebumps, Harry’s arms tightening ever so slightly around Louis’ small frame. Louis’ breath got caught in his throat as Harry leaned forward, and he swore his heart completely stopped when he felt Harry’s lip press softly against the tip of his nose.

Christ.

It was amazing when Harry felt Louis go completely calm like this, all tension released from his body at the touch of his own hand. It wasn’t a secret that Louis was always up and moving, his sporadic behavior making him who we was. Harry had always admired him for that, since the very beginning with their days on The X Factor. But this, feeling Louis’ hands fall from their grips on his arms, sensing the goosebumps spread across his skin...this was bliss. This was his very own doing. Harry slowly pulled his lips away from Louis’ nose and smiled faintly at the fact that Louis’ eyes had momentarily fluttered shut, like they did in the movies. Dramatic, but cute all the same. Louis quickly opened them back up, his cheeks flushed a dark pink and, for a moment, was actually speechless. Imagine that.

“Did I break you?” Harry could hear the own smirk in his voice and Louis laughed almost immediately, shaking his head.

“Nah, ‘m fine....” He moved slightly beneath Harry’s grip but showed no intention of wanting to get out. Harry cocked his head to the side, suddenly noticing the fact that Louis’ face was laid directly next to his picture on the blanket below them. His eyes flew in between the two quickly, back and forth for a few seconds, his brow furrowed in thought. Louis stayed silent, watching him carefully as he ran his fingertips lightly against Harry’s chest, sending light shivers down his spine. Harry quickly sat up, nodding his head.

“It’s official. You’ve gotten way cuter since this photo was taken.” He gestured towards the blanket beneath them and tried to ignore the butterflies that suddenly appeared in his stomach as Louis’ cheeks flushed yet again.

“Well I should hope so! I’ve done a lot of growing up since then.” Harry grinned at the sudden defensive tone his voice took, absentmindedly tracing random patterns along the sides of Louis’ thick thighs.

“Yeah, I know.”

The good thing about being with Louis is that no silence between the two was ever awkward. There were days on tour where the work never stopped, from the the moment they woke up to the moment their heads hit the pillow hours later, if they even got the time to sleep. On these days, Harry could very literally go the entire day without actually talking to Louis unless it was onstage, if that. He absolutely hated it.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the soft touch of Louis’ fingertips lighting tapping against the top of his knuckles. Harry shifted his gaze back towards him, and felt his eyes widen as he suddenly realized what Louis was doing.

With the softest, lightest touch Harry had felt from him in MONTHS, he watched almost stupidly as Louis gently raised Harry’s hand up, dangling limply from Louis’ grip, and gasped softly out loud as he felt his lips press against his fingertips.

“You did NOT just give me a finger kiss.”

A grin split across Louis’ face almost instantly, his grip on Harry’s hand loosening and he giggled as Harry’s arm went limp and fell against the mattress. A giggle escaped his mouth as Harry’s jaw went slack, his eyes still wide with astonishment.

“Yes, I gave you a finger kiss. Just like old times.”

Louis could swear Harry was seeing stars. He had never seen him look so shocked in his life, which struck him as odd. He shifted nervously in his seat, trying to see if Harry’s gaze shifted at all but he continued to stare at him, his green eyes wide and unblinking. Why was he so bothered by a finger kiss? After an uncomfortable silence that had Louis practically squirming, he cleared his throat loudly. “I don’t...I’m sorry I did that? I won’t do it ag-” His head suddenly hit the pillows on top of their bed, his bum hitting the comforter and the sudden force nearly knocking the wind out of him. He wasn’t even able to gasp in shock because Harry’s mouth was suddenly against his, his warms lips moving against his in a frenzy of passion Louis hadn’t gotten in weeks. He was barely able to register any of this before Harry was sitting up again, a huge grin spread wide across his face. Louis felt his heart flutter suddenly seeing those dimples he loved so much again.

“You remembered! I can’t believe you remember the finger kisses!” Despite Harry’s ecstatic tone, Louis couldn’t help but feel a bit offended at his words.

“Well...of course I do. That was our thing, we made it up during X Factor…” He swore he felt the temperature in the room drop 10 degrees. His icy tone cut through the atmosphere like a knife. Louis scratched his cheek, thinking about all those finger kisses that were exchanged before going onstage and performing their songs of the week, and how it had even followed them through the majority of the Up All Night tour. Why would he have forgotten something that was so special to them? Harry blinked, looking confused at first but quickly recognized Louis’ blatant shift in mood.

“Well...I just assumed…” He shook his head quickly as if trying to let the thought escape his mind and come up with something new. “I mean...you forget about little things like that sometimes, you always have...there’s nothing wrong with that…” Louis could tell Harry was choosing his words very carefully, as if one wrong word would turn Louis into the Hulk. “I...I just always remembered things that you’d forget about, and I thought that was one of them.” Harry looked up slightly after his small speech, his gaze meeting Louis’ eyes. “I mean...you’re so busy. You always have been, ever since the beginning. You had extra rehearsals with Simon…” Louis felt a pang of sadness hit him like a wave out of nowhere, frowning slightly at the memory of those meetings. The media training had started at a very young age for him.

Apparently his flamboyant personality was “going to make him a target for bullying in the future.” So fucking what? And anyway, why was Harry bringing this up in the first place? “You were the one that was immediately thrown into the press with a fake girlfriend. You were the one always taking the heat for everything, and you still are. All I’ve ever had to do is sit there and look pretty while you get shitty articles written about you all the time, and no one ever sees the real Louis Tomlinson.” Louis’ head snapped up, alarmed at how drastic a turn this conversation had suddenly taken and his heart shattered when he saw the glint of tears in Harry’s eyes. Fuck. Harry was notorious for getting emotional when he was tired. Almost frantically, he looked down at the bed and snatched the blanket that was now crumpled up between their legs and unraveled it quickly. Harry blinked at him, sniffling a bit, curiosity now taking the place of the sadness in his eyes. Louis held the fleece blanket in front of Harry’s face, gesturing to Harry’s picture with his finger.

“You see him?” Harry eyed him uncertainly, then nodded quickly when he realized Louis was waiting for an answer. Louis turned back to the blanket, lowering his hand.

“This boy...no, this man. He is the absolute bravest person I know.” His voice was not loud or commanding as it usually was, but soft and gentle, sincere. Harry stayed silent, his hands resting nervously in his lap. “He was 16 years old when he decided to leave home, and take a chance with another kid and live together. Not only that, he went in headstrong and hopeful. Full of love, full of life….I had never seen someone like that before, in my entire 18 years of life.” Harry smiled slightly, not at the comments but rather at how Louis’ face had gone soft, that happy glint appearing in his eyes that only came when he spoke passionately about something. “16 and 18...too young for anything. Too young to know what they felt, too young to understand what love was. That’s all I heard, and I desperately wanted to believe them. I wasn’t able to put into words what I was feeling about you, and...that scared me. Absolutely terrified me, actually. But you know who wasn’t scared at all?” Louis’ finger suddenly met the tip of his nose gently, Harry’s skin flushing a dark pink color almost immediately. Louis smiled fondly, dropping his hand. “You are the bravest, kindest, smartest, happiest and best person I have ever known, and the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. You were the one to take all those winter girlfriends, the one to take the heat from the press and the womanizer image. Just because the camera’s on me now doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten all you’ve done for us, and you shouldn’t either. You’re the reason I haven’t fallen apart yet, and the reason I probably never will. And I know that, even if I do...you’ll be there to put me back together. Like always.” Louis finished his speech and kicked himself internally for that last line. How cheesy could it get? My God, Zayn would be having a laughing fit if he heard this shit. But all of it was 100% real and true, despite how it sounded. He dropped the blanket back into his lap, staying quiet and looked up at Harry. Oh, Christ, was he crying still? That was supposed to make it stop.

“Hazza, I’m sorry, please don’t cry anymore, I hate it when y-” Louis was suddenly greeted with a sharp pain in his nose from making direct contact with Harry’s sternum, his large arms wrapped around his tiny frame and practically pulling him into his lap like a child. Good God, how many times had Harry basically love attacked him tonight? He felt tears falling into his hair and immediately tried to escape, pushing against Harry’s broad chest. “Harry, let me go, you’re fucking crying…” Harry sniffled loudly, shaking his head, his nose rubbing the top of Louis’ scalp gently.

“I just love you so much, Lou. So, so damn much…” His words were muffled but Louis could practically feel the love seeping from his words. Or maybe it was more tears. Louis smiled weakly, dropping his hands from his chest and sliding his small arms around Harry’s torso, automatically beginning to rub soothing circles against his back.

“I love you too, Haz...always have and always will.” He felt Harry’s grip loosen slightly before he pulled him closer in his lap, sniffling again before falling silent. His heartbeat was soothing against Louis’ ears, slowly going back to its normal rhythmic pace that he was so used to hearing and feeling. His fingers kept tracing unknown patterns against Harry’s bare skin, silently recalling every freckle and bump his finger came in contact with, most of which he knew were already there. This silence was nice….it was calm. Louis felt like he hadn’t experienced any calm in months, especially since tour started and now with all those nasty articles started circulating about him. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the bright colors of the blanket sitting beside his knee, and he slowly reached over to grab it. Harry’s grip loosened in response, eventually dropping his arms so that Louis could pick it up. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hands, he smiled softly as Louis proceeded to wrap it around his broad shoulders, giggling as he struggled to keep it on him without it falling.

“You’re too bloody big, Styles. This blanket is like a napkin to you,” he commented as Harry reached up and grabbed it, holding it against his chest so it would stay. Harry shrugged, his same fond smile staying upon his lips.

“You’re just jealous because this blanket would very nearly swallow you.” He laughed loudly as Louis swatted his arm, moving out of the way from his reach. ‘“It’s true! Remember when you and I were the same size and could fit into those twin beds during X Factor?” Louis grinned, really and truly grinned, his eyes lighting up and the crinkles appearing again.

“Yeah, I do...we even had bunk beds but there was no way we weren’t gonna sleep together. Remember when you fell off the top bunk one night and scared the shit out of Niall?” Harry’s laughter was booming,as he quickly covered his mouth and bent forward into his lap, shoulders shaking slightly. Louis perked up more, wanting to eliminate all sadness from Harry and continued. “I swear to God, he almost pissed himself. He made us swear the next morning at breakfast to sleep in the bottom bunk for the rest of the time we were there.” Harry was practically cackling now, his neck turning red from laughing so hard.

Louis began giggling himself, watching his love’s reaction to the story. Harry finally composed himself, wiping now happy tears from his eyes and catching his breath. He looked up at Louis, his eyes practically glittering with joy.

“Do you ever wish you could go back?”

Louis, surprisingly, thought about this a lot. During his time on X Factor, things were so new to him. He had never been much of a singer or performer, except for his few times on the stage in high school. He had never really thought much about being famous, or singing as a career before then. In all honestly, this show was supposed to be a one time deal. He’d be on TV for awhile, have some fun, and then move on with his life. He had learned at a very young age that a good education and job were crucial to living a successful life, and singing was not one of those things you could raise a family on, especially if you weren’t good. Louis had never questioned the fact that he was simply average at performing. Scratching his head, he looked up at Harry again, trying to put his thoughts together.  
“Well...yeah, kind of I guess. For certain reasons.” Harry nodded in response, scanning his face quietly.

“I do.” Of course Harry did. Harry was Britain’s sweetheart at the time, everyone knew “that Harry Styles kid from The X Factor”. The one with the messy mop of curly hair and the dimples that made him look downright adorable. It also didn’t hurt that the boy was literally 16 years old and giving all these famous celebs a run for their money with his voice. Louis swore his knees almost gave out when he heard him open his mouth the first time at auditions. It makes sense that he’d want to go back. Louis nodded, shrugging his shoulders. “I understand that. I mean, everyone was in love with you from the start.”  
“Well, I wasn’t in love with them. That’s not really why I’d want to go back.” Louis blinked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Oh really? You’re telling me you didn’t LOVE all that attention?” Harry shrugged, pulling the blanket around himself tightly.

“I did at the beginning, I guess. But I found out pretty quickly that I loved your attention way more.”

Oh my fucking God.

A sudden image of the Grinch with his heart swelling up 3 sizes popped into Louis’ head, probably from the amount of times he was forced to watch it with his sisters growing up. He had laughed at it before, but right now he swore his heart was about to bust out of his tiny body. Louis’ brain was frozen, suddenly struck with the insane amount of love he had for the man sitting across from him wrapped in a stupid kids blanket. Harry merely stayed silent, scratching his head indifferently and looking sleepy. Louis couldn’t believe the effect those words were having on him now. After a moment of Louis trying to figure out what the hell to say, Harry continued.

“I’d go back solely just to fall in love with you again. It was slow at first, but...I fell pretty quickly after that.” He wrinkled his nose, probably trying to scratch an itch without having to move his hand from his lap.

Louis had never seen anything so fucking cute in his life. “I’d go back to the first time I saw you at auditions, running around and introducing yourself to everyone. I’d go back to seeing you at boot camp, and hearing you sing for the first time. I had never heard anything so beautiful in my life. I’d go back to the first night we spent in the house together…”

Here Harry blushed, absentmindedly messing with his toes and Louis promised he almost blacked out. “I’d just...I’d just go back and repeat it all. It was quite honestly the best time of my life, not because of the sudden fame but the fact that I was able to find you. Not a lot of people can say they found their future husband at the age of 16.” Harry beamed at him, and Louis had to physically restrain himself from attacking the man with kisses. How in the world had he gotten so lucky?

“Harry, I….” He blinked frantically, trying to come up with something to say but his mind had gone stupid again, unable to form a complete thought at all. He stumbled over his words, making random noises with his mouth, looking like a complete fucking idiot but Harry just giggled at him, reaching behind himself and pulling the blanket off his shoulders. Louis snapped back to reality long enough to see Harry was gently wrapping the blanket around him now, pulling it around his small shoulders like a cape. Louis eyed him carefully, his body suddenly covered in goosebumps as Harry’s fingers made contact with his skin. Harry leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his temple gently.

“I love you too, Lou,” he responded simply, a hint of a smile upon his lips. Louis’ stomach was flipping, he could barely breathe. Swallowing thickly, he leaned forward in route of a kiss but was suddenly interrupted by a loud buzzing sound coming from the table. Harry jumped, a gasp escaping his mouth at the sudden noise. Louis grinned slightly, shaking his head and leaning over to grab his phone that was about to fall off the table. A selfie of him and Preston flipping off the camera lit up the screen, and Louis made a face. Harry peered over to see who was calling and his eyes immediately widened.

“I’m asleep!” He flopped himself down on the bed and threw the 1D blanket over his head after ripping it from his shoulders, Louis giggling loudly.

“Shut up, you’re gonna get us in trouble!” Louis reached out just in time to block Harry’s pillow from hitting him square in the face before hopping off the bed, Harry’s loud laughter filling the room before he made it into the bathroom. Quickly sliding his finger across the phone screen, he unlocked it and answered the call. “Hello?”

Harry laid back down against the pillows, after reaching over and grabbing Louis’ pillow from the floor. Yawning, he propped it up beside him, pulling the comforter up over his legs and placing the colorful blanket in between the two spaces. He could already feel sleep tugging at his eyes, struggling to keep them open. Yawning again, he rested his cheek against his arm, turning to face Louis’ side in the bed. His eyes fluttered shut, but he was quickly awoken again by the sound of the bathroom door closing. He smiled sleepily as Louis grimaced at his attempt to close it without making any noise, then watched him tiptoe across the room to the lamp, switching it off quickly.  
“‘M still awake, Lou…”

“Yeah, I felt you silently judging me for my failure at staying quiet.” Harry giggled softly, watching as Louis slipped into bed beside him, his head falling to rest against the blanket between them.

“Are we gonna sleep with this bloody thing now?”

“Why not? It’ll keep us warm and toasty.”

“Yeah, in this 100 degree Texas heat.” Harry rolled his eyes, reaching over and pulling Louis close to his chest. “My night to spoon, and I want the blanket.” He felt Louis huff in agitation before relaxing against his chest, his hands rubbing softly against his arms.

“By the way, Preston called to not only complain about our,” He raised his hands up to make air quotes, “annoying fucking laughter”, but also to tell us that the photo shoot for tomorrow was cancelled.” Harry pouted, resting his chin on top of Louis’ hair.

“Cancelled? Why?”

Louis was silent for a moment, before replying in a strong Texan accent.

“Well, you see Curly, we had ourselves a mess down at the farm. Our two horses, Brokeback and Mountain, got out of the stables, and all the cows decided to stampede at the sight of my new cowboy boots!”

Harry swore to God right then and there he had never laughed so hard in his entire fucking life. Louis couldn’t even make it through the last sentence without breaking character, bursting into his high, airy laugh and burying his face in the pillow. The two of them laid there for what seemed like an eternity, clinging to each other and gasping for air in between loud cackles.

Sort of like they used to on The X Factor.

Harry suddenly realized that, in all honestly, most of the things they did were little remnants of X Factor. No matter what they did, however old they grew together, wherever they went, they couldn’t erase the fact that they fell in love there. The little things they used to do together then they still did together now, even if they didn’t realize it. Harry grinned to himself, pulling Louis a little closer to him and pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. Louis turned his head slightly, wiggling his eyebrows in response after their laughter had finally tapered off. “No but really, it’s supposed to rain pretty bad so they had it cancelled. Buuuut…” He ran his fingertips along Harry’s tattoos, resting his head back on the pillow. “...that means we get the day off before the show.” Harry smiled in contentment, his entire body relaxing at the mere thought of getting to sleep in tomorrow.

“Can we just use it to sleep? I’ll literally wake up an hour before showtime.” Louis laughed and buried his face into Harry’s arm, nodding.

“Sure, why not Curly? Whatever keeps me in bed with you all day.” Harry nearly swooned at that, his face flushing hot all of a sudden.

“Or we could lay in bed and talk all day…” Louis hummed in response.

“Sure, what do you want to talk about?”

Harry yawned, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against the back of Louis’ head, burying his face in his hair.

“Babies. I saw a really cute one at the airport this morning…”

“Ah. You’re favorite subject...you can talk my ear off about babies, love.”

But Harry had just about fallen asleep, the lack of rest from the past month finally catching up to him in a swift blow. Louis smiled softly, moving his head slightly left to plant a soft kiss on Harry’s bicep, right on his ship tattoo.

“Love you, Hazza…”

Harry mumbled back, his voice groggy and deep but still lovesick as ever.

“Love you too, Boobear.”


End file.
